utils (version 3.3)

RSiteSearch: Search for Key Words or Phrases in Documentation

Description

Search for key words or phrases in help pages, vignettes or task views, using the search engine at http://search.r-project.org and view them in a web browser.

Usage

RSiteSearch(string,
            restrict = c("functions", "vignettes", "views"),
            format = c("normal", "short"),
            sortby = c("score", "date:late", "date:early",
                       "subject", "subject:descending",
                       "from", "from:descending",
                       "size", "size:descending"),
            matchesPerPage = 20)

Arguments

string

A character string specifying word(s) or a phrase to search. If the words are to be searched as one entity, enclose all words in braces (see the first example).

restrict

a character vector, typically of length greater than one. Values can be abbreviated. Possible areas to search in: functions for help pages, views for task views and vignettes for package vignettes.

format

normal or short (no excerpts); can be abbreviated.

sortby

character string (can be abbreviated) indicating how to sort the search results: (score, date:late for sorting by date with latest results first, date:early for earliest first, subject for subject in alphabetical order, subject:descending for reverse alphabetical order, from or from:descending for sender (when applicable), size or size:descending for size.)

matchesPerPage

How many items to show per page.

Value

• (Invisibly) the complete URL passed to the browser, including the query string.

Details

This function is designed to work with the search site at http://search.r-project.org, and depends on that site continuing to be made available (thanks to Jonathan Baron and the School of Arts and Sciences of the University of Pennsylvania).

Unique partial matches will work for all arguments. Each new browser window will stay open unless you close it.

See Also

help.search, help.start for local searches.

browseURL for how the help file is displayed.

Examples

# need Internet connection
RSiteSearch("{logistic regression}") # matches exact phrase
Sys.sleep(5) # allow browser to open, take a quick look
## Search in vignettes and store the query-string:
fullquery <- RSiteSearch("lattice", restrict = "vignettes")
fullquery # a string of ~ 110 characters